FooFoo's behavior is concerning

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Thumperina

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Location
, Kansas, USA
She is 5 yo unspayed female. Never been sick in her life.
I can't understand if her behavior is due to being in heat or if she got sick.

She eats very little, refusing her favorite snacks. For example I offer raisins that she loves, she takes a few and then just doesn't take another one. Or banana - starts eating and doesn't finish her piece. My other female refuses treats as well when in heat. In general, they do eat less when in heat.

She is housed with 2 other rabbits, they spend a day in the yard and come inside the garage for the night. I visit them but I don't see them all the time. Fed all together so it's hard for me to say who ate what. Same for the poop. At night, they have litter boxes but they go potty all together.
I need to install camera to see who is eating.

When FooFoo breathes, her whole body moves with it (you can see her breathing). She now looks very sad but this can be due to having no male to mate.

She allows me to pet her when she is lying down. She doesn't like to be picked up and she won't let me flip her over to see her privates (my another female doesnt mind a flipped over position). Usually FooFoo is cleaning herself rather well so there is no need for me to check her butt.

Tonight I picked her up as I wanted to see her privates just in case. Tried to wrap her in a towel, flipped her and then she screamed. Never heard rabbit screaming before. Of course, this prompted me to stop and let her go. I hope she screamed just in protest.

She has been checked by the vet not long ago. But I havent found a vet that I fully like and trust. They are not rabbit experts.

If I have to take her to the a vet, what should I suggest for them to check? Teeth, of course. Can a mosquito bite cause problems? ticks? I saw ticks at the beginning of summer and would occasionally remove them from buns' ears but havent see any for a long time.
How long can female stay in heat?
 
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Usually she is very quick, curious, alert bunny.
She is still moving OK (have no problem to move from A to B) but she is seen lying in one spot for a long, long time.
This situation continues for several days now. Maybe close to a week
 
She died. at first she was shivering and I, stupid, was still thinking it was heat to blame. I tried to comfort her and she ran away from me but I noticed she tried to pull her rear legs and couldn't (like they got paralyzed) . Then she ran like crazy to another spot. I went back into the house. some time later I heard some noise and went back to garage. She was having like a seizure, then fell on her back, screamed... I knew by then her end was near...
Was it a virus? I could possibly have saved her if I took her to doctor earlier... instead of thinking she was just in heat.

Are my other rabbits in danger? I also have birds that live inside the house.

RIP my sweet FooFoo. I love you and will miss you so much
 
OMG!!! you poor thing! I am sooooooo sorry to hear of the loss of your bunny. The poor little darling. :( Sending bunny loves from myself and Nibbles.

Just think that whatever was happening to your Foo Foo your bun is not in pain anymore.
 
thank you Andrea
I think whatever stopped her from eating, finally caused GI stasis, and then her death. She was hiding her illness and I wasn't attentive enough to help her earlier.
 
I would appreciate if people gave me suggestions what could cause her illness.
my guesses are:

- teeth problems, can't eat.
- in pain for some internal issues, can't eat

in general, they are in the same yard for 5 years...where could a virus come from if its a virus? maybe she ate something poisonous...we had a lot of rain, so maybe mushrooms? I try to pick them when I see them appeared but could missed some.

It was also cold a few days before (down to 38F) but they don't spend night outside. But if she was already sick, cold weather could have made it worse - ?

Anybody have any insight on her rear legs paralyzed at the end?
 
I myself have been sick with respiratory issues for the last 4 weeks
Interesting, the night she died I suddenly experienced strong pain in my lower back...its still here with me. Now I am very worried I myself is infected with E. cuniculi . Am I getting paralyzed???
 
When I read "5 years unspayed", I immediatly thought "cancer". At this age she had around 80% risk of getting one, which is why almost all members here spay their rabbits unless they are keeping them for breeding purpose. It could of course have been something else (the causes for stasis are numerous and can go from 'the hay wasn't that good this week' for the most sensitive rabbits to horrible life threatening conditions), but that's a possibility. Whatever the cause, stasis generally doesn't leave you a very long time to react. If it was the first time it happened to you you couldn't have known.
In case it happens again : when one of my rabbits shows signs of stasis (hunched over, not willing to eat, not moving much) I begin to treat or schedule a vet visit (if trembling or looking 'dull') after about 10mn. It doesn't get better on its own and it's generally better to do an x-ray to check there is no blockage and help determine the possible underlying condition. If the case is severe, the vet will be able to give an IV and to keep the rabbit in good conditions. It doesn't always suffice but it helps. Sugary things make it worse. Considering you've got other rabbits, I feel like I should tell you that banana plus several raisins sound like a lot too much sugar. Like, a LOT. That's really bad for your rabbits' guts. Also, rabbits don't go into heat. They don't have periods. They automatically become available when they are 'in situation' with a male. That's it. They don't get sad they can't mate. What they do have is phantom pregnancies, which will lead to mastitis and infections and pyometras. If you've got other unspayed females, I strongly recommend you have them spayed before something happens to them. The life expectancy of intact females is not good and this simple operation can easily double it, even if other problems can still occur... unfortunately, we can't control everything even if we do our best.
 
When I read "5 years unspayed", I immediatly thought "cancer". At this age she had around 80% risk of getting one, which is why almost all members here spay their rabbits unless they are keeping them for breeding purpose. It could of course have been something else (the causes for stasis are numerous and can go from 'the hay wasn't that good this week' for the most sensitive rabbits to horrible life threatening conditions), but that's a possibility. Whatever the cause, stasis generally doesn't leave you a very long time to react. If it was the first time it happened to you you couldn't have known.
In case it happens again : when one of my rabbits shows signs of stasis (hunched over, not willing to eat, not moving much) I begin to treat or schedule a vet visit (if trembling or looking 'dull') after about 10mn. It doesn't get better on its own and it's generally better to do an x-ray to check there is no blockage and help determine the possible underlying condition. If the case is severe, the vet will be able to give an IV and to keep the rabbit in good conditions. It doesn't always suffice but it helps. Sugary things make it worse. Considering you've got other rabbits, I feel like I should tell you that banana plus several raisins sound like a lot too much sugar. Like, a LOT. That's really bad for your rabbits' guts. Also, rabbits don't go into heat. They don't have periods. They automatically become available when they are 'in situation' with a male. That's it. They don't get sad they can't mate. What they do have is phantom pregnancies, which will lead to mastitis and infections and pyometras. If you've got other unspayed females, I strongly recommend you have them spayed before something happens to them. The life expectancy of intact females is not good and this simple operation can easily double it, even if other problems can still occur... unfortunately, we can't control everything even if we do our best.
thank you very much

Can you please comment on E cuniculi? Is it possible? If she had it, than other buns would probably get it too? So far, they look and act OK, but of course I don't know for sure.

I try to get myself tested for it (I think it's possible with my symptoms), and not finding anything. I mean, places I went to, told me upfront that they won't be able to help me with this so I didn't even check in.

Speaking about cancer, I thought for some reasons that it would take time, and I would be seeing some signs like blood in her private, blood in urine, and so on. She has been seen by a vet not long ago. Could have been cancer, of course.

Anyone could comment on her rear back failure and seizure before she died?
 
Speaking about being "in heat", I have been watching periods of normal mood (friendly curious bunnies) and periods of depression (this is when both females were getting attitude)
But I am not here to argue about it.
 
It's very unusual for people to become infected with e. cuniculi. Those who are immunocompromised would be the most at risk of contracting the illness.

Aside from that, it doesn't sound to me like your rabbit had e. cuniculi. It sounds like something else. It could have been cancer like others have suggested, heart problems, or a toxin. Poisonous mushrooms can cause hind limb paralysis, seizures, and death, so that is a possibility. But without a necropsy being done to verify the cause, we can only speculate as to what might have caused your buns death based on the symptoms you described. Whatever the cause, I'm sorry that you lost her.

Just for your future knowledge and reference, rabbits are induced ovulators, meaning they don't go into heat, say like dogs do. If a rabbit seems depressed or isn't eating, it usually means they are in pain or sick. So it would be good if any of your other rabbits have these symptoms of acting 'depressed', that you take it as a sign they are unwell and act accordingly.
 
thank you very much

I really needed somebody who knows what E. cuniculi looks like, to write about their experience/knowledge. Because its a very different story for my other buns. I am hectically trying to clean/disinfect the garage and I'm only half way thru. FooFoo hasn't even been buried yet. I haven't slept last night.
Very interesting that last night, when I already knew something real bad was going on, I suddenly started to have awful pain in my lower back... never had it before. Like someone wanted me to feel what she feels.

Anyway, I am praying that my other buns are not affected.
 
from where do rabbits get e. cuniculi and how common is it in US?
Somebody may think "she is not speaking about the right matter", I just haven't known about it much. I think it's useful to know (along with other things).

I am missing my dear curious FooFoo so much.
 
Speaking about being "in heat", I have been watching periods of normal mood (friendly curious bunnies) and periods of depression (this is when both females were getting attitude)
But I am not here to argue about it.

There is no arguing about it, rabbits don't go into heat, that's a fact. They are what is called 'induced ovulators' as stated by another member. A rabbit not acting normal is a rabbit having a phantom pregnancy or being ill.

What you described doesn't sound like e cuniculi to me either. The most common symptoms will be neurologic (head tilted on the side, uncoordinated movements), sometimes loss of vision (the lens will rupture, it does look very characteristic with cloudy eyes). But generally the death doesn't intervene that quickly, you will see signs before. It's not even really proven it can be passed on to humans from a rabbit and you would need to have been immunocompromised to get it. I don't think you are currently under any risk whatsoever.

Yes, you can have signs like blood in the urine for cancer but that's not necessarily the case. Your rabbit could have had a uterine, ovarian cancer or an infection linked to hormones. What you described sound like a rabbit in pain getting stasis and then dying because of her weakened, possibly septic state. That's all.
If you have other unspayed does, they will probably die around the same age from cancer if you don't spay. Of course, they could die by another cause but please take note that the risk is overwhelmingly great. That's your call.
 
Over our 9 years of raising/showing rabbits we've only had one who developed active e.cuniculi. Her first symptom was hind limb paresis, which is a very common first symptom. To die that quickly though leads me to believe EC was not the primary cause of your rabbit's death. She might've had cancer, but we've had many 5-6 year old unspayed does in good health so even though the chances are greater that cancer could've been an issue, I would not venture to say it's 'overwhelmingly great'...at least not in my experience.
It sounds like there was an underlying issue of some kind that caused her not to eat, which led to gut issues, which can kill pretty quickly. Only a necropsy could tell you what happened.
 
My female rabbit also has days when she is friendly and days when she wants to be left alone. About one day a week she becomes very clingy and just wants to be very near us, cuddling and kissing constantly. Other days she has lots of energy and wants to race around and play tag. Then comes the day when she wants to be left alone. John says she's probably sore from binkying so much the previous day. She's a big bunny. All that racing and leaping and popcorning, maybe she pulled a muscle. I think rabbits just have moods.
 
As for your back pain, are you keeping hydrated? Back pain in humans can be infected kidneys. As for Foofoo, can you take her to a vet for an autopsy? It's not cheap, but then you would know for sure.
 
we've had many 5-6 year old unspayed does in good health so even though the chances are greater that cancer could've been an issue, I would not venture to say it's 'overwhelmingly great'...at least not in my experience.
.
this is what the vet as well told me. He was seeing my another female, Thumperina (still alive), for fly strike last summer. When asked about spaying, he said "Do you want my personal opinion? If she was mine, I wouldn't spay her. Ask me how many rabbits with cancer I've seen... Zero". He thought that in her case, she was too old (5 yo as well), a little overweight, the vet said that in his opinion, she would have a higher chance to pass during the surgery rather that benefiting from it. But maybe he didn't see rabbits with cancer because many people spay them in early age, and when unspayed, they die sooner than being taken to the vet, if they happen to have cancer.
Some other vets told that they were confident about successfully spaying her... I have seen several vets, none is a real rabbit expert.

I m not negotiating about benefits of spaying...Just sharing the info.

This office told me that for necropsy they have to send her 3 hrs away to a larger city and it would cost a lot. I already buried her in a beautiful place.
 

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